Annual Meeting 2022

Registration for this event is now closed

HSCC members and friends are invited to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting on November 1, 2022. Based on member feedback, the meeting will be a luncheon from noon – 2:00 p.m. After two years of virtual meetings, this year’s event will be at the historic Westminster Riding Club. Doors open at 11:30 and lunch begins at noon. Lunch will include an assortment of sandwiches, side salads, and dessert. Vegetarian options will be available.

After the business portion and election of new Board members, Executive Director Jason Illari will share updates on the Society’s affairs including a preview of HSCC’s new Strategic Plan. Our first-ever Distinguished Service Award and Distinguished Historian Award will be presented, along with the Jay Graybeal Scholarship

For centuries people have been tying themselves up in knots for the sake of fashion. We are delighted that our keynote speaker will be Karin Bohleke, Director of the Fashion Archives & Museum at Shippensburg University.   

Dr. Bohleke is renowned for her knowledge, creativity and success in bringing community partners together to create outstanding exhibits, including the museum’s current exhibit, Celebrating Creative Hands – Yesterday and Today. In collaboration with the Lancaster Spinners and Weavers Guild, the exhibit combines guild member’s creations made using traditional techniques and historical examples of the same techniques from the museum’s permanent collection. Articles – FA&M (fashionarchives.org)

Dr. Bohleke has served as the director of the Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg University since 2007. She also teaches in the Applied History Master’s Degree Program. She holds a Ph.D. in French language and literature from Yale University. An avid seamstress, embroiderer, and lace-maker since childhood, she augmented her studies of vintage clothing styles by creating highly accurate reproduction clothing when introduced to vintage social dancing by her future husband.

Dr. Bohleke is a member of the Costume Society of America. Her publication on a rare Civil War patriotic apron resulted in a permanent display at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Dr. Bohleke uses her skill and talents to help other museums.  The Winterthur Museum commissioner her to recreate the lost 1916 wedding gown of Ruth Wales du Pont, the wife of the museum’s founder, Henry Francis du Pont. Using two photos of the gown and a few newspaper clippings describing it.  Dr. Bohleke went to work mostly hand-sewing a replica for the museum’s Lady of the House exhibit.  To create the veil, which was originally worn by du Pont’s grandmother in the 1850s, she used scraps of 100 plus year old antique lace to configure into a typical patter of the day.

Cost for the event is $35 for HSCC members and $45 for non-members. Reservations are required by October 19. Payment must be made when making your reservation. To reserve your space, send a check payable to HSCC (be sure to include all guests’ names) or by using the form below.

The Westminster Riding Club is located at 366 North Colonial Avenue in Westminster. It is on the north side of East Main Street, at the top of the hill across from the intersection with Green Street. Look for the small blue sign at the corner.